The Cripple Of Inishmaan

The Cripple Of Inishmaan is a cruel, bleak, and humanising foray into rural Ireland. Inishmaan is an island of parts, from great malice, heart, tomfoolery and sincerity. 

In Inishmaan, an isle of about 160 people today, Billy Claven (William Rees) is an orphaned cripple. The townsfolk refer to him as as ‘Cripple Billy'. He lives with his two aunties, Kate (Megan O’Connell) and Eileen Osbourne (Sarah Aubrey). They worry about Billy’s oddities – the way he stares at cows, how he can't be kissed, how he's always in a book. They’re visited nearly daily by the town gossip (or “newsman”) Johnnypateenmike (Laurence Coy) who shares all kinds of inane news about the interpersonal happenings of the tiny isle, and occasionally something of note. Herein lies the premise: a group of Yanks have come to a neighbouring island, Inishmore, to shoot a film. Billy’s ears prick up. 

Mad March Hare Theatre Company in association with Redline Productions have taken the plunge into Martin McDonagh’s difficult and odd script. Full of wordy humour and unexpected turns, it’s ambitious. Thanks to Claudia Barrie’s direction and a cast who are having as much fun as the audience, they’ve nailed it. At one point you’re immersed in the small-town mentality of the place, with news of whose cat’s attacking whose goose. At the next, you’re elevated to Shakespearean fools, as Johnnypateenmike’s nonsense parts with nobility and insight.

Barrie’s direction sees her entire cast achieve great heights. Nestled in Brianna Russell’s production design – gradients of grey, layers of poverty – the actors shine. Rees performs Cripple Billy’s hero arc with style. Mammy O’Dougal (Jude Gibson), though on stage for a shorter time than others, tickles the audience pink. Aubrey as one of the stern yet caring aunties (with a knack for eating her own shop’s sweets) delivers a performance of supreme pathos. Jane Watt as Helen McCormick provocatively ignites the passion, ferocity and coyness of a small-town girl. Coy has Irish cheek and good craic to such a degree that it’s hard to believe the centuries-old stereotypes didn’t come from the actor himself. Josh Anderson’s portrayal of Bartley McCormick, a thick island boy who’s always after sweeties or telescopes, has such a captivating and surprising style that not an eye is taken off him basically any time he’s on stage. 

The Cripple Of Inishmaan is your one-stop-shop for feeling, laughter and deep pondering.